Penn Navarro is the best player in the league—unstoppable on the ice, untouchable off it. But the moment the game ends, so do the celebrations. Because no amount of goals, no number of wins, can silence the demons that haunt him.
Hockey is my life. It’s what I was born to do. That’s not ego talking, just fact—I’ve spent years honing my skills, earning my place among the elite. But talent doesn’t erase my mistakes, and no amount of success will make me forget the damage I’ve done. It’s why I keep my distance from my teammates, because if you never let anyone in, you’ll never get hurt. Or those are the lies that I tell myself.
Mila Brennan represents the darkest parts of my history. She’s a ghost I’ve tried to bury, the reminder of everything I’ve lost. When she shows up in Pittsburgh looking for me, I know nothing good will come of it, because our sins don’t stay forgotten. They fester, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, and Mila’s arrival means my time is up.
The past isn’t just knocking at my door—it’s kicking it down, crumbling all the walls I’ve built around myself in the process. And when the danger comes for us both, I’m forced to do the one thing I swore I never would. Let her in.
HUMANS! Imagine a galaxy of water-dominant planets with sentient sea life, sexy merpeople, and amorous tentacle monsters. Ocean and seas, lakes and ponds, marshes and swamps—all filled with humanoid alien fish, bio engineered amphibians, reptile overlords, and more. Ready to fall in love? Come explore the many underwater kingdoms of THE HYDROVERSE.
UNDER THE OCEAN’S THRALL is a collection of unique love stories written especially for DARK ROMANCE READERS who want their science fiction sexy and their sea monsters otherworldly. Experience erotic adventures set on strange, faraway worlds sprinkled throughout the HYDROVERSE.
If I had a dime for every time someone said that to me, I wouldn’t have run away.
Because regardless of what they tell you, time doesn’t heal the pain.
Because what I was doing wasn’t living, it was a constant reminder of the life I’d lost.
Because I couldn’t bear the sadness I saw hiding behind Tatum’s eyes every time he looked at me.
I knew he loved me . . . But for how long?
One day he would’ve woken up and seen the same ugliness that I see every time I look in the mirror.
And that was something I couldn’t let happen.
With some help from an unlikely source, I fled to the one place I believed no one would ever find me . . . Virginia. Donald Matthew and Wright Security helped conceal my past so the boy who holds my heart would never find me.
Until he did.
All I wanted was for the nightmares of that day to stop and to be left alone. I’m not the same girl I used to be, which is why I need to protect my heart from the devastation Tatum’s rejection could inflict.
But he refuses to leave me alone.
Should I take the risk and trust him?
Maybe they’re right.
Maybe time can erase the past and heal the pain.
Or, maybe Tatum will destroy what’s left of my heart forever.
A dark, steamy, mafia romance, sizzling with heat when the stalked … stalks back.
AXEL is my hot d*ckhead boss who stalks me. I know. He’s arrogant. Powerful. Evil. But those eyes.
So, I stalked him back, and that’s when I discovered… He’s the escaped heir to a criminal empire. A dark prince. The head of a secret society of vigilante mafia kings.
I spied on their taboo ex-Bratva rituals. I know their dark secret, how they initiate their queens.
And he busted me.
Now, Axel says he owns me. He makes me stay with him … or else.
Or fall in love with my sinful stalker? Or become the mafia queen to the son of the most dangerous man in the world?
Author’s note: AXEL is a standalone, dark, not-mafia-mafia romance set in a world of taboo traditions, biting banter, morally grey heroes in a band of brothers with some heavy themes, and very explicit scenes. This is an 18+, interconnected romance with a guaranteed HEA.
Lila Wright never expected to flee her dress fitting covered in a cloud of lace—let alone land in a first-class seat next to the most gorgeous man she’s ever seen. With mascara-streaked cheeks, a shattered heart, and no plan beyond “anywhere but here,” she spills her secrets to the stranger with the sharp jawline and stormy eyes. She expects a little sympathy. She doesn’t expect a two-week, all-expenses-paid escape on his dime.
Dean Harrington isn’t just any passenger. He’s a man with a heart locked up tighter than his family’s luxury yacht empire. The reclusive billionaire isn’t in the mood for small talk—until the runaway bride beside him turns out to be as intriguing as she is unfiltered. She’s beautiful, chaotic, and clearly a flight risk. But somehow, she puts him at ease. That is, until they land—and he discovers he’s now the full-time guardian of his niece and nephew.
By a twist of fate, Lila’s no longer just a fleeting encounter—she’s the nanny he hires from a small-town agency. And he’s her brooding, infuriatingly hot boss.
Forced under one roof in his bayside home, a temporary arrangement soon spirals into something far more complicated. Between sizzling tension and curious kids who want their uncle to be happy, Lila and Dean are on a collision course with feelings neither saw coming.
But sometimes love shows up uninvited—35,000 feet in the air.
This steamy small-town romance delivers billionaire angst, nanny sweetness, and a slow-burn love story full of heat, heart, and unexpected happily-ever-afters.
He’s a filthy, fierce cowboy. I’m his best friend’s daughter. And the only thing more forbidden than his hands on me… is how much I want them there. He says I’m off limits. But now I’m back in our small town, all grown up and aching for the one man I shouldn’t want. My dad thinks throwing me into ranch work will scare me off for good. He’s wrong. Because the more I’m around Dixon Chase, with his rough hands and dirty mouth, the more I want to stay. He says he can’t touch me. That I deserve better. But once he gives in, there’s no going back. We were supposed to be a secret, something temporary. But how do I give up something that feels this real?
❤️ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 ✔️ Cowboy ✔️ Age Gap ✔️ Best Friend’s Daughter ✔️ Forbidden ✔️ Small Town Romance
❤️Review❤️ Faith’s father wanted her to experience life outside of the ranch, so he had her attend college away from her hometown. Now that she has finished she has returned to her hometown however her father believes it is a visit however she intends to stay.
Dixon works for her father on the ranch and is more than a decade older than her. He is determined to keep his distance in part because of her father and in part because he believes she deserves better than him however she doesn’t agree.
The chemistry between them is intense. Faith is a woman who knows what she wants in life and who she wants to spend it with and isn’t about to let anything or anyone stand in her way.
She handles her screwdriver every day, but she has no clue how much he likes it.
Yeah. There’s a real man in that tool, and he’s determined to break a curse for love.
Sophia’s a handy girl with a toolbox, a job using it, and a vibrating silicone toy that takes care of those special needs. All that’s missing is a few grand for a new pickup truck to get her business running.
A new contracting job with Jaeger Duke, the slimy son of a politician, will get her the dollars, but she doesn’t realize how dangerous this dumb, coked-up, nepo-douche baby can be.
Fortunately, the guy cursed to live inside her screwdriver knows the deal and is willing to strip some threads to protect her.
Unfortunately, the woman he’s pining for only appreciates him for his flathead.
That’s when an itsy-bitsy spider that’s possessed by an ambitious demon drops by with a way to break the curse. Sophia has to grasp her screwdriver’s thicker side in a very intimate way before she and her entire toolbox get completely screwed.
——
If, when you finish this book, you ask yourself “What the heckiddy-heck did I just read?” then I have done my job.
If, despite this pertinent and valid question, you’re interested in watching this story turn into a Why Choose, stay tuned for three more novellas about Sophia and the rest of the toolbox crew.
🪛Review🪛
Julia and her best friend Tonya own a construction company. She has a deep connection to some of her tools as she inherited them from her dad. There is one way that Julia finds herself consistently dealing with who wants her for more than her construction skills even though she only sees him as an entitled man who will do whatever is necessary to get what he wants.
Due to an incident in the past Caspian is no longer the man he was but has been transformed into a screwdriver. He wants a future with her but that means she will have to understand that he is much more than a screwdriver as he tries to protect her from a threat she doesn’t know is coming.
This was such a unique story that brings all the heat and humor. Not only does it give us a happy for now but it also leaves us wondering what the future will hold for everyone involved.
About the Author:
CD Reiss has a long history of aimlessly moving from place to place. She finally settled in Los Angeles where she earned a master’s degree in cinematic writing from USC. After graduation, she ultimately failed to have one line of dialog put on film, but stayed in Hollywood out of spite.
Since screenwriting was going nowhere, she switched to novels. Soon after, luck arrived with a complete set of baggage. She now has over two dozen titles under her belt. Two of those are NY Times Bestsellers and a handful more are USA Today bestsellers. Her audiobooks have won APA Audie Awards and Earphones Awards, swelling her ego to an inhuman size.
She lives with her family, two cats and her long-suffering husband in a small Hollywood house that’s been outfitted with huge, ego-sized doorways.
When I step through the archway to the kitchen, I stop cold. “What are you doing here?” I ask, signing as I speak, fully aware that I sound like a dick, but unable to stop the words from pouring from my mouth and my hands.
Fallon sighs loudly and tucks an errant strand of hair behind her left ear. “We’ve been over this, Ollie. I live here now. Get used to it.”
Blue chuckles and I want to wipe that stupid smirk off his pretty fucking face. “We’re making smoothies,” he says with pride, as though tossing ingredients into a blender is akin to performing open-heart surgery.
I stalk toward the fridge and start pulling out everything I’ll need to make my lunch. I grab a cutting board because I fucking can and because doing so means Blue has to move over a couple inches. I’m spreading a thin layer of mustard on a thick slice of sourdough bread when I catch sight of what he’s adding to the concoction he’s making.
Without a second thought, I grab the small dish of blueberries and empty it into my palm before tipping my head back to toss a few in.
“The fuck?” Blue mutters, scowling as he nabs the empty dish from my hand.
At Fallon’s look of disbelief, I shrug. “You’re welcome,” I tell her, pressing the tips of my fingers to my chin before thrusting my hand forward.
In response, she touches her middle finger to her chin, then thrusts it forward in a clear indication that she doesn’t appreciate the favor I was trying to do for her.
“You hate blueberries,” I say matter-of-factly before gobbling up the last few berries and returning to the work of making a sandwich.
“I do not hate blueberries,” she tells me, her eyes blazing.
“Since when?” I ask. “Because I distinctly remember you calling them ‘sour little lie-berries’ and saying you’d rather eat prunes than choke down a blueberry muffin.”
“Prunes are actually a really good source of potassium and fiber,” Blue interjects, but Fallon and I aren’t paying our know-it-all health-nut of a roommate any attention.
“I may have felt that way once,” Fallon begrudgingly concedes, “but people can change—feelings can change.”
I hold her gaze. “People can change, huh? I didn’t know you were aware of that fact,” I say, knowing full well that I’m letting my frustration get the better of me.
Fallon doesn’t even blink. She’s got balls of steel and a spine to match. “Of course, people can change, Ollie,” she says, her hands moving swiftly as the words leave her mouth. “But that doesn’t always mean that they do.”
The words hang heavily in the air between us until Blue clears his throat and brings us back to the here and now.
“I’m just gonna make my smoothie and go,” he says, holding his hands up in mock surrender.
“Make it quick,” I say.
“You don’t need to leave,” Fallon insists.
Blue laughs again, so I spare him a glance. “Believe it or not, I’ve got better things to do than stand here catching strays,” he says, before pressing the button on his blender.
“What’s a pretty little thing like you doin’ in a bar like this?” I cock a brow, trying not to laugh as Casey slides onto the bar stool next to me.
I usually drink at the clubhouse, or at my club brothers’ bar, Whiskey Straight, but tonight I stopped in at the Whiskey Bar and Grill to pick up some food. I’m nursing a beer while I wait.
She gives me a side eye. “Really, Pipes?”
I snort. “Got you talkin’, didn’t it?”
I don’t need to look at her to know she just gave me an eye roll. I can see it a mile away.
“The world makes sense again.”
Every time I see this chick, my heart does this flutter thing. I also have a similar feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I’ve no idea what it means. Just the very sight of her, as if her sweet, floral perfume isn’t enough. Her golden blonde hair is halfway between her chin and her shoulders. She usually wears it tucked behind her ears, and occasionally in a short ponytail. Casey isn’t just pretty, she’s a natural beauty. She rarely wears makeup, she doesn’t need it. Her skin is pale in winter, tan in summer, with a smattering of cute freckles across her cheeks and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. Her lips are cherry red and succulent. I imagine biting down on her bottom lip and stifle a groan.
Her utility belt does things to me. As does her shockingly hot, dark blue paramedic uniform. She wears it with a vest over the top. It shouldn’t work, but it does because every time I see her dressed like this, I want to strip her naked.
My dick hardens and I clear my throat, trying to keep my thoughts north of the border. “You look like you need a drink. Rough day?”
She sighs. “You could say that.”
“Vodka soda?”
She tilts her head. “You know what I drink, or lucky guess?”#mackenzyfox #mcromance #kindleunlimited #theauthoragency @theauthor.agency
When I was claimed by a monster who said my Strega witch blood was powerful, I didn’t believe him – because nothing shows you how powerless you are like a forced marriage to a vampire. Girls like me are cautionary tales, not the heroine of the story.
Then my mother walked out of the shadows and into Italy on a ray of light.
This time, her lessons lead to power instead of pain. All the vagueness of my sixth sense suddenly has a shape… and I can sculpt it into a weapon.
Carmine Montefiore is not my husband by choice. He’s a vampire who scented me. He’s a mafioso who kidnapped me. But like a girl with nothing to lose, I fell in love with the dark.
He put me in thrall when he took my blood.
I rewrote his heart when I found it waiting for me.
We need each other as much as we want each other.
To earn my freedom, I could master my magic and end the monster who made me fall for him, or defeat the most powerful monster of all.
About the Author:
CD Reiss has a long history of aimlessly moving from place to place. She finally settled in Los Angeles where she earned a master’s degree in cinematic writing from USC. After graduation, she ultimately failed to have one line of dialog put on film, but stayed in Hollywood out of spite.
Since screenwriting was going nowhere, she switched to novels. Soon after, luck arrived with a complete set of baggage. She now has over two dozen titles under her belt. Two of those are NY Times Bestsellers and a handful more are USA Today bestsellers. Her audiobooks have won APA Audie Awards and Earphones Awards, swelling her ego to an inhuman size.
She lives with her family, two cats and her long-suffering husband in a small Hollywood house that’s been outfitted with huge, ego-sized doorways.
The story of Carmine and Luna continues, and it doesn’t disappoint. The combination of mafia and paranormal is something you don’t want to miss, and this installment includes details on the characters that you will have more invested in them and their story.
Carmine will do whatever is necessary to keep Luna safe even it that means keeping her in his control. Learning about what he has endured that has shaped him into who he is today will give a deeper understanding of why he makes the choices he makes.
Luna may be under Carmine’s control, but her independence is fighting to emerge while she tries to adapt to her new surroundings and the changes it has made in her.
Intriguing characters, a unique storyline, hot chemistry and surprise you don’t see coming only leave you wanting more of this couple and needing to know what the future holds.
“Where did you get this?” I ask, trying not to sound like a suspicious douchebag. I’m a possessive one instead.
Darcy rolls her lips together, shifting to face me. “Oh, this?” She lifts the bracelet between us. “This is from Emmett Richards, the hot-as-fuck defenseman on your team. I woke up with him yesterday, and he gave it to me as a birthday gift.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Darcy.”
She’s on her back in seconds, and I’m hovering over her, a caveman growl I’ve been fighting to suppress escaping my chest. I’m tempted to slide inside her right now and demonstrate how I’m the only man she needs.
Small hands rest on my shoulders as the bracelet slips down her arm.
“Did your dad get it for you?” I ask softly. I know from Jack that she doesn’t have a relationship with him anymore. That doesn’t stop me from hoping the guy didn’t miss his daughter’s birthday.
“No.” She shakes her head, a subtle sadness dulling her eyes. “I haven’t spoken to him in months. The bracelet is from my mom. She bought it for my twenty-first birthday, and I wear it on special occasions.”
Although I wouldn’t describe us as estranged, I’m not especially close to my dad. Darcy might be right to keep Elliott out of her life—just like Jack cut him out completely too—but that doesn’t mean there isn’t residual hurt.
“Do you miss him?” I ask cautiously.
She peers up at me like she hasn’t been asked that in a while.
“That’s a complicated question, Archer.”
I settle down between her parted thighs. I know she can feel my hard cock as it presses into her. Casually, I run my fingers down her stomach, holding myself up with an elbow braced next to her shoulder. We’re both completely naked, but that isn’t the most intimate part of this moment. I want to explore every part of Darcy, well beyond the conversations we’ve previously shared.
“We’ve got the time.”
She clears her throat and shifts beneath me. “My dad is one of those people who always has an agenda with everything he does. When I was younger, I couldn’t see the games he played or the way he would emotionally attack Mum, not until I got older. Then, when Jack joined the Blades and met Kendra, Dad tried to come back into his life after he learned what my brother was earning and how much his girlfriend’s family was worth. Kendra told me all about it when I moved to Brooklyn, but I’d already hated his guts anyway.” She pokes her tongue into her cheek. “And I don’t hate anyone. Ever.”
My blood boils on behalf of Jack and Darcy, two of the kindest people I’ve ever met. If they despise this guy, I can only hope we never cross paths.
“Did he hurt you?”
Shaking her head again, she presses her lips into a thin line. “No, never physically. Dad doesn’t need to get physical to cause hurt. He likes to weigh and measure people, and when he has a drink, the venom really starts spouting. He once told me I’d walked away from a good relationship with Liam because of my ego.”
“But he cheated on you,” I immediately fire back, my rage simmering.
“He did, although Dad never saw it that way. He said Liam was going to have a great career in finance.” She laughs darkly. “Funny, because that’s what my dad does—he’s a stockbroker in London.”
I remember Jack telling me his dad worked in Canary Wharf. A place where some of my own investments are run. He’d better not manage any of my offshore accounts.
“After Liam and I split, Jack admitted he could see more and more of Dad in Liam’s behaviors. Mum spent a lot of time detangling herself from Dad’s grasp, and Jack was afraid I’d go down the same route. I once failed a test at university—”
I release a mock gasp, and she swats me on the chest, giggling.
“Yes, Archer. Believe it or not, I did. Anyway, do you know what Liam’s reaction was?”
I shake my head, already convinced I’m not going to like it.
“He told me not to worry because a woman’s place is really in the home and with the kids, not out earning money because he could take care of that. It was a carbon copy of what Dad used to say to Mum.”
I can’t imagine Darcy ever accepting something like that from a guy. They do say love is blind.
When she looks up at me for a reaction, I know my jaw is clenched, molars grinding hard.
“There were plenty of red flags I chose to ignore because I’d invested so much time into the wrong person, but I didn’t want to feel like all of it was wasted, so I kept plowing ahead with him. I guess that’s why now I’m not keen to get into anything heavy. The next person I date, I want to be sure they won’t screw me over.”
My tongue burns with the need to tell her that I’d never let her down. Then I consider the evidence of my past and what she has to go on.
“A woman’s place is wherever she wants to be.” They’re the only words I can find in a sea of confessions I desperately want to profess. “No one owns you or gets to tell you what to do with your life, Darcy. When a real man says, You’re mine, it’s because he can’t stand the thought of living a day without you in his life. Not because you’re a possession he can show off to his friends. You’re a treasure, not an accessory.”
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Kari's Book Reviews and Revelations 